OMG, BDL To AMS On A 757

The aircraft that Northwest sent on its first direct flight from Bradley to Amsterdam on Sunday was very much a sign of the times. A 160-passenger Boeing 757 modified with angled wing tips to improve fuel efficiency, it is far smaller than the wide-bodied jets that used to be the only commercial aircraft crossing the Atlantic.

I've stated before my preference for large , wide-bodied jets with two aisles. I'm talking about the Boeing 747, 767 and 777 models, as well as the late, lamented Lockheed L1011 and the bigger Airbuses. But that's not the way things are trending in the airline industry, and we're simply going to see more, smaller jets heading to Europe in the years ahead.

Northwest is flying a 757-200, sometimes referred to as a 752, between Bradley and Amsterdam. It's an extended range model of one of Boeing's most common aircraft, with three seats on each side of a single aisle.

Northwest also flies this aircraft domestically, but the transatlantic version has a particularly kind seating configuration. With just 16 seats in first class and 144 in coach, the seats are not squeezed as tightly together. The seat pitch - the distance between rows of seats - is 33 to 34 inches.

It really doesn't get much better than that in coach.

So, yeah, I prefer a bigger plane. But giving me more leg room is a sure-fire way to make me feel better about a smaller one.

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sure a great way to fly if NW can use this 752 to cross the Atlantic cause it save them fuel verse the number of passengers the carried onboard. No such thing that most passengers likes to use the hub airport when they can fly directly to their end destination from where they are situated esp the small city of USA to the bigger cities over in Europe / UK.

Likewise the B787 will be a potential carrier that passengers will loves to ride onboard. Who wants to seat with 550 other passengers when he can fly directly to the preferred destination with say 180 pax on a small jet but a bit comfortable than the usual tight squeeze leg room. Take say 10 seats off the usual configuration the airline operator won't loose a chunk of their operational cost vs a big plane of A380 whose break off point is so much higher vs the aircraft initial cost plus the operation cost. bear in mind that bigger plane cannot fly from smaller cities or preferred cities. they will work on larger cities with limited parameters. with the present 911 in mind who wants to waste time at the airport for an earlier check in time and all that jazz that needs more preparation for the airport from home.
Only fools will think of that idea as the 'world have changed' since the 911 event. this message the 'world have changed' was spoken by the Singapore prime minister during at day. Mr Goh Cheok Tong.
I'm an a Singaporean.
I don't fly Singapore Airlines as I'm a poor citizen so I fly the budget or second tier airline but i select their aircrafts during booking.